Video: Santorum Positions Himself As a "True Conservative"

Speaking to supporters at the Derryfield Country Club in Manchester late on Tuesday, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum positioned himself as a "true conservative" who can take on President Barack Obama in November.

"We have an opportunity to be the true conservative--a true conservative who can go out and do what's necessary not just to win this race. we can win this race," he said. "We need a conservative who understands that at the foundation of our country are institutions that are crucial for us to be a successful nation--families, families that are bounded together as the foundation, that instill virtue and faith in our children, to build strong communities and to build a great nation from the bottom up."

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney easily won the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary with 39 percent of the vote. Santorum came in a distant fifth with nine percent, but he assured supporters that his campaign would continue onto South Carolina.

The social conservative faced increased scrutiny in the days leading up to the primary over his strong opposition to marriage for same-sex couples. A group of Occupy protesters labeled him a "bigot" as he, his wife and two of his children left a downtown Manchester campaign rally on Jan. 9. A woman asked Santorum at a Salem town hall earlier the same day whether his positions make him an electable candidate.

Joyce Haas, vice chair of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, said Santorum's statements have "been misunderstood" at the very least. She went so far to say that the social conservative would actually support civil unions for same-sex couples.

“I haven’t heard him say it in exactly those terms, but he does believe that for instance, every insurance, going into hospitals, inheritance rights," said Haas. "He supports those civil union type rights. The only thing that’s different is the 3,000 year institution of marriage being one man and one woman.”